Those who stay [committed] will be champions.

EDIT: I never thought asking people to stay true to their word would draw such criticism. Before you go spewing expletives and passing judgements on me, read all my responses to various vitriolic criticisms.

Clarification: The system of college football recruiting is fundamentally flawed. It encourages, if not forces, young, young men to commit to schools very early, when they may not have had a chance to weigh all their options. However, this does not give these young men a free pass to hand out commitments willy nilly. Reform is due in the system, but the young men must also be careful about their commitments.

I wrote this in a fit of passion and rage. Sorry for any incoherence.

We, as the University of Michigan football fan base, need to stop lauding prospects. Our fawning and drooling over 40 times and Rivals stars is breeding class upon class of divas. We shower them with praise, follow their high school seasons, and imagine them in future lineups, and in the process create kids who think they're better than everyone else.

When you make a commitment, you keep that commitment. You are COMMITTED to that school, COMMITTED to those traditions, COMMITTED to what it stands for.

If you do not BLEED Maize and Blue, do not commit to Michigan. Do not commit to Michigan if you could just as easily go to OSU, MSU, ND, or PSU. I want someone who HATES OSU. I want someone who wants nothing more than to run out of that tunnel and touch the MGOBLUE banner in front of 110,000 screaming, maize and blue clad fans.

I know you're just in high school and you're fickle and a visit to any campus excites you. If your blood isn't MAIZE, take all your visits, weigh all your options, and then commit. I understand you want to secure a spot, but how selfish is it to commit just to save a spot in line, knowing you're likely to back out and go somewhere else? Stop committing as soon as you get your offer if you're not 100% Maize and Blue.

Will Campbell should have never committed. Kevin Newsome should have never committed. Bryce McNeal should have never committed. Anthony Fera should have never committed.

Take your time, weigh your options, and then commit. Michigan will find a place for you. I know there is some truth to the need to lock up a place before a school looks elsewhere, but you as recruits have the ability to change this system. Stop committing as a high school junior if you don't bleed Maize and Blue. Send the message to programs that they must respect your right to weigh your options and make your decision in good time.

To close, if a slow start and some ugly losses sway you, Michigan doesn't want you. This season should excite you to get on the field and play for UM. It should excite you to bring UM back into national title contention. It shouldn't inspire you to jump ship. It should inspire you to restore Michigan's place amongst the elite in college football. It should inspire you to uphold the legacy of Yost, Crisler, Bo, and Lloyd, and to create a new legacy for RichRod. It should inspire you to be the next Desmond Howard, the next Charles Woodson, the next Braylon Edwards, or the next Mike Hart. It should inspire you to engrain yourself into the hallowed tradition of University of Michigan football.

Those people got more offers because the company deemed them better qualified than the second group. I'm REALLY struggling to see what's wrong with that.

Kevin Newsome got more scholly offers than Justin Feagin. I'm sure Justin Feagin worked his ass off and all that, but merit plays a role in this shit. And do you think that, for instance, the Newsome commitment stopped a lower tier of QB from getting an offer? No - Michigan had 4 kids in the running - Newsome, Forcier, Beaver, and Smith. All four of those kids were holding offers from elite, BCS schools. Did Newsome's commitment, for instance, "damage" any of them? Hard to believe.

And Andy, chill out with your edits. If you post something in a public forum, you should be prepared for the possibility that people will disagree. A single person responded more harshly than was warranted. Other than that, you've had people questioning your premise. Drop the victim schtick, because it's tiresome.

This is getting off topic and is long winded, but I feel like I should address the complaint/analogy with the Job Market. Please skip over this if you are not interested.

Bouje, I first wanted to say that I am sorry you didn't have a great recruiting experience...it is tough and stressful. I know what you mean by kids who stockpile offers from companies. It is actually an inequity in the recruiting system that there are certain "gunners" that feel like they need to go and get every Marketing, Banking, or Consulting job out there. Some of my friends got the short end of that stick and I missed out on some oppurtunities myself and it sucks. But it is how the system works; if you have a good GPA, good experience, and good communication skills, companies are going to want you and it is a competition amongst all the candidates.

On the other hand, Chitown is right to an extent:

(this is not meant to toot my own horn, merely to illustrate my point) I had more than one offer during post undergrad recruiting. Does that make me the villain? I have been involved in the recruiting side of things for a couple years now and I 100% guarantee you that a company could have given out an offer to someone else had I not had received an offer that I ultimately did not accept. Companies put serious planning in the number of offers extended and their expected acceptance rate, they/we are aware of the numbers game being played on both sides of things.

The fact is that you have to interview with multiple companies to increase your chances of getting that one job that you need and want. For some people that means you get one offer and are happy and that is it. Others end up with more than they anticipated and some get left hanging. And yes, sometimes you already have an offer but continue to pursue other oppurtunities so that you make the right decision and have seen the interviewing process through.

How does this relate to Football? It is absolutely understandable that as more Schools [companies] show interest or try to sway a recruit [interviewee], that said recruit deserves to make an informed and educated decision, just like any of us would make when picking a university or job. Until he signs the LOI, he is not obligated to attend the school- just like having an offer from a company doesn't obligate you to go work for them (the analogy falls apart here since there is no such thing as a "commit" for job recruiting - and that is a whole 'nother set of conversation)